A twisted rider apes a classic Napoleonic pose, mounted upon the fleshy back of a unicorn, its head that of a narwhal. Such things exist in the mind of Mat Brown, an artist whose images are nearly beyond description; sprawling landscapes, lush with alien vegetation and inhabited by hideous figures. It is a fascinating, but horrific collection of sensual grotesqueries.

Be careful as the gallery is, most assuredly, not safe for work.

Works by Mat Brown [Christopher Cutts Gallery] : MONSTER BRAINS

Top: Aeonium Bottom: 404 Denied

Russ Mills’s art is a frenetic display of barely contained energy. His figures twist and contort, their edges blurring into scratchy wisps of nothingness, their faces the only features to appear untouched by the kinetic atmosphere that pervades each piece. His store is, unsurprisingly, desolate; the prints having been snapped up in short order. Perhaps an out pouring of desire will convince him to restock.

byroglyphics [Artist’s Site] : Drawn!

Alex Pardee’s piece for “Cover Band”, a show beginning October 7th at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. Featuring 50 classic album covers, reworked by 50 artists including Brian Taylor and Kathy Olivas.

Cyndi Lauper x Alex Pardee [Artist’s Site] : Super Punch

Yes, yes I realize this is the second time in as many Cthursdays that I’ve linked to Drew Pocza’s art; but the chance to post an illustration of the slumbering Old One decked out in Run DMC gear was, well, just too much for me to resist.

YO! [Artist’s Site]

In 1936, two stories by H.P. Lovecraft appeared in the pages of Astounding Stories, At the Mountains of Madness and The Shadow Out of Time. Howard Brown did the cover and interior illustrations for both of these and they are fantastic. I really like Brown’s sense of scale with all his humans dwarfed by their surroundings and their inhabitants.

Howard V. Brown’s Illustrations for Astounding Stories, 1936 [Golden Age Comic Book Stories] : Thanks, Asa!

Tenggren’s illustrations for Grimm’s Fairy Tales very much remind me of one of my favorite illustrators, Arthur Rackham; in fact the stunted, dead trees in the illustration on the left look exactly like the prototypical Rackham tree. The Little Red Riding Hood illustration on the right shows Tenggrens ability to convey mood with a minimum of detail — something that is at work in a number of the other plates from this book — with the titular protagonist dwarfed by the elephantine trunks of the forest trees. Make sure to take a look at the rest.

Illustration: Gustaf Tenggren’s Grimm’s Fairy Tales [ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive]

Friends, Countrymen;

In a few days I will be retracing the path of thousands of ancient conastogas, puttering up Shasta and down Grant’s, charring and grimacing under the Oregon blaze, just to get to my homeland of Seattle, Washington.

It’s very rare that I show my art publicly. After last time, when an angry mob showed up early with torches and pitchforks and ate all the cubical cheese, I had really lost hope in the Seattle art scene. I tried showing down here in the Bay Area, where I now reside, but had to take down early due to hippies protesting a yeti that had climbed one of the campus trees.

It is for this reason that I would be terribly obliged if only you’d find some way to drop in at either one of the art shows I’m launching this weekend.

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Stefan Glerum addresses the act, nay the obsession, of scouring garage sales and record shops for rare discs of vinyl in his wonderfully Gorey-esque series Crate Digging, Don’t Do It!

Crate Digging, Don’t Do It! [Artist’s Site] : Drawn!

A menagerie of otherworldly sprites explodes from the limp carcass of a whale. Illustrated by Camilo Bejarano, prints are now available in 13” x 19”, 18” x 24”, 24” x 36” flavors.

PH7labs [Artist’s Site] : LCSV4

It’s Wednesday, that dividing line in the middle of every week, so why not start it out with a Geisha and a cephalopod?

GEISHA WITH OCTOPUS [deviantART] : by Zoe-Lacchei : Thanks, Bibi!

In my advanced age I have lost the urge to venture far from my abode. Indeed, as far as the country of my birth is concerned I have yet to explore farther west than the Mississippi, choosing instead to traipse up, and occasionally down, the East Coast. Much of it has to do with climate, both in terms of weather and social temperament. Indoctrinated as I am to the curt, succinct interpersonal interaction of the Northeast, the lands to the west appear to my mind as a fetid morass where individuals languorously loiter on the street, holding court in a fashion that runs contrary to a matter of the utmost importance, i.e. arriving at my intended destination. I am in a rush people; I have no time for your greetings and salutations.

Yet, as of late, I have found myself looking towards California with something disturbingly not unlike longing. Last Saturday in Los Angeles, Coilhouse held a soiree for the launch of their magazine. Fortunately, my disappointment from missing that event was mitigated somewhat by the fact that I had, some time ago, fashioned cardboard standees of Zoe, Meredith, and Nadya. We had a wonderful evening. There was punch, chips, and three different kinds of dip. Don’t you judge me.

If that wasn’t bad enough only now I’m finding out that Dave McKean has had an exhibition at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery since July 19th, and it is ending this Saturday. Those of you who have chosen to settle in or near this fetid metropolis may want to check it out. I would utter a curse upon L.A. but that would be like kicking a two legged puppy; it has it bad enough without any assistance from me.

Dave McKean: Persistence of Vision [Merry Karnowsky Gallery] : Suzanne G.

I’ve seen the work of cheesecake illustrator George Petty scattered here and there but I never gave a good look to his occasionally questionable depictions of the female form. This one may be my favorite. Here we can see Miss April being driven mad by the rapid expansion of her skull. One can only assume that it was not long before the poor girl’s head cracked and split open like an overripe watermelon.

Pinups: George Petty’s Ridgid Tools Calendars [ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive]

I have no idea of the title of either of these (hit the jump to see the other), unable as I am to read Japanese, but I was struck by the granularity of them; it’s as if they have been painted with iron filings.

A word of warning: The site has some images of nude female types.

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As much as I appreciate the work that has come out of Pixar, Wall-E is the first of their films that I have anticipated. These fantastic, and pricey, retro prints — featuring illustrations by Eric Tan — only increase my desire to see it.

Wall-E Limited Edition Artwork [Acme Direct] : Signalnoise : Monoscope

Some preliminary sketches by Koldo Barroso for his tentatively titled book Portraits from the Dreamlands: A Guide to Creatures from the Dream World.

The Boombakaboomkers are creatures who run and play their drums all along the dream lands to find anything you want that you once lost. They take shapes from the spirits of different animals and always come to help you when they’re called.

I am an especially big fan of Boom-baKahog, its face comprised almost entirely of an enormous proboscis.

Portraits From The Dreamlands [Artist’s Site]